Joel Trumbull Buckingham (1838 - 1846)

Born 1838 in Georgetown, Madison, New York, United States

Ancestors

Died 1846 at about age 8 in Oregon Trail

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Biography

Joel Buckingham was involved in the westward expansion of the USA. Westward Ho! Join: Trails and Wagon Trains Project Discuss: wagon_trains_and_trails

Joel Buckingham died young.

This profile is part of the Buckingham Name Study.

Wagon Train Details

"Wagon Trains", large groups of covered wagons that travelled together for safety and protection, were a common way for pioneers to travel as they migrated west. These are the known details of the wagon train this person travelled on:

For more information on wagon trains you can also check out the Trails and Wagon Trains sub-project

The summary from Emigrants to Oregon in 1846 gives these details for Heman:

SR: BUCKINGHAM, Heman Chapin (1812-1881): m1. Laura KINNEY (1811-1835); m2. 1837 Betsey TRUMBULL ( -1847); m3. 1850 Matilda Jane STARR (1833-1885); s/o Reuben and Philena (Chapin) Buckingham; settled originally at Oregon City where he operated a store; 1850 moved to Benton County where he took up a DLC; bur Bellfountain Cemetery, Benton Co, OR. (note: SR: is the abbreviation for Southern Route) ^[1]

Oregon Trail

Joel was born in 1838 to Heman Buckingham and Betsy Trumbull in Madison County, New York.^[2][1]

Statesman Journal 24 May 1993.

Heman Buckingham is listed on the 1840 United States Federal Census as living in Israel, Preble, Ohio. He is living with Betsy, Randolph, Joel and his mother Philena.^[2] By 1843 the family had moved to Iowa where Lovina Buckingham was born.^[3]

1846 proved to be a fateful year for many of the overlanders heading west. With the trail being in the condition that it was in, the "emigrants themselves had to make the trail passable for wagons from this point on, delaying their progress. Levi Scott would later write that for much of the return trip, each morning he had to go ahead, search out the route, and then help make the road passable before the wagons could follow." Paul Kane sketched this scene on his 1846 journey to Oregon.^[4]

A Winter Scene in the Rockies

Joel was just eight years old when he accompanied his family on the migration to Oregon. A typical day started before dawn with breakfast of coffee, bacon, and dry bread. The bedding was secured and wagon repacked in time to get underway by seven o’clock. At noon, they stopped for a cold meal of coffee, beans, and bacon or buffalo prepared that morning. Then back on the road again. Around five in the afternoon, after traveling an average of fifteen miles, they circled the wagons for the evening. The men secured the animals and made repairs while women cooked a hot meal of tea and boiled rice with dried beef or codfish. Evening activities included schooling the children, singing and dancing, and telling stories around the campfire.^[5]

Joel likely died in an accident as the emigrant wagons didn't have any safety features. If someone fell under the massive wagon wheels, death was instant. Many lost their lives this way. Most often, the victims were children.^[6]

Joel died in June of 1846 on the Oregon Trail and was buried there.^[1][7]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Flora, Stephenie. Emigrants To Oregon In 1846. 2017. Accessed November 18, 2017. Oregon in 1846 summary for Heman Buckingham
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRR-14T : 20 August 2017), Heman C Buckinham, Israel Township, Preble, Ohio, United States; citing p. 52, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 421; FHL microfilm 20,174. citing Heman living in Ohio. Males - Under 5 = 1 (Joel b. 1838); Males - 5 thru 9 = 1 (Randolph b. 1835); Males - 20 thru 29 = 1 (Heman b. 1812); Females - 20 thru 29 = 1 (Betsy b. 1811 - 1820); Females - 60 thru 69 = 1 (Philena Chapin Buckingham b. 1772).
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDQV-6K5 : 26 July 2017), Heman C Buckingham. citing Heman C Buckingham, 1860 citing Lovina Buckingham born 1843 in Iowa.
4. ↑ Applegate Trail - History of the Southern Route. Oregon-California Trails Association. Citing the emigrants working to clear the trail and citing the late October storm that doomed the Donner Party and devastated the wagon trains on the Southern Route. Accessed November 22, 2017. http://www.octa-trails.org/articles/applegate-trail.
5. ↑ "Life and Death on the Oregon Trail." Oregon - California Trail Association. Accessed September 24, 2018. https://www.octa-trails.org/articles/life-and-death-on-the-oregon-trail/.
6. ↑ "Hardships." Councilbluffs. Accessed September 24, 2018. http://oregontrail101.com/hardships.html.
7. ↑ "RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Pioneers of South Benton County Oregon." RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: Mac/McPherson of PA, Ladd of Maine and Related Families. Accessed September 24, 2018. https://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sbenton&id=I368.